George Fox

George Fox (July 1624-13 January 1691) was an English dissenter who founded the Protestant Quaker movement.

Biography
George Fox was born in the strongly Puritan village of Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire, England in 1624. The son of a weaver, he was apprenticed to a local shoemaker and grazier, and, driven by his "inner voice", he left his hometown in 1643 and wandered around the country in a depressed state. He soon became a student of the Bible, and he began to preach publicly in 1647. His powerful preaching began to attract a small following, and his followers became known as the "Society of Friends", nicknamed the Quakers for their trembling before God. Fox was often persecuted for his radical teachings, promising an uncompromising approach to Christianity. His ministry expanded as he made trips to the Thirteen Colonies and to the Low Countries, and he spent his final decade in London to organize the expanding Quaker movement. He died in London in 1691.